KABUL, 17 January 2012 (IRIN) – Avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan have cut off tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of people already at risk of hunger due to drought, opening the door to a potential humanitarian crisis if aid cannot reach them, says a provincial official.
“If the snow continues to keep the roads to rural and remote districts closed and we don’t get any assistance, we would face a severe humanitarian crisis,” Abdul Maroof Rasekh, a government spokesperson from mountainous Badakhshan Province, told IRIN.
–snip– The Aga Khan Foundation Network has already begun work clearing 6km of road on Palfill Slope in Baghlan Province, Shahim said. But there could be further problems ahead, he added, with a high probability of more avalanches this year.
via Afghanistan: Avalanches cut off parts of drought-hit northeast | ReliefWeb.
Ismailimail 